I'm delighted to see The Rupee Room is already on Yelp!
I grew up in Ayrshire and still take an annual holiday to visit the family there. Indian meals were always an occasional treat for the family, but I always felt we had something of an uneasy relationship with Indian places and never really settled on a favourite. Now, however, The Rupee Room is firmly established as our family's go-to place for Indian. Most recently, mother and I took my sister and her two young children there to celebrate my sister's birthday with a good time being had by all.
My usual choice here is the mixed veg dosa, which comes with salad and a dhal sauce. The dosa is smaller, thicker and tougher than I have encountered elsewhere, but still a worthy effort - in fact let's look on the bright side and point out it is more substantial than a lot of the papery dosas out there! For a vegetarian, that is a good option for you. Mother always sticks with the korma (of which they have a slighty bewildering variety!) and is always satisfied with that. My sister had a dhal-based vegetarian dish, while the children shared chicken pakora. Sister seemed pleased with her choice, but between the dipping sauce and the spicy batter there was a bit too much heat in the pakoras for the kids, with my niece needing a glass of cold milk to cool her mouth down, which the waitress kindly supplied. Tandoor chapatis where also enjoyed by the party.
Although there is a window into the kitchen, it is not really enough to give much of a view unless you stand close - as I have done! But it is reassuring, and on my last visit I could see a diligent bunch of Sikh cooks toiling away in there. The pleasant waitress who served us was milk-bottle complexion Scottish, though!
The décor is smart enough, including the tealight food warmers brought to the table (see photos). The locale is great on Burns Monument Square, with a regal view of statues and formal gardens but also, unfortunately, quite busy traffic for Ayr directly outside the window which I found to be a bit of a distraction.
Prices are reasonable, and their deals are a genuine bargain. We tend to go for the half-priced mains from 5-7pm, or 4-6pm on Saturdays and Sundays. If you are trying to keep costs down, focus on cleaning your plate of the half-priced main and go easy on the side orders! (This is one reason why any of the dosas or puri meals are a good choice during this time, as they are complete meals in themselves.)
Actually, this is reminding me that I had the vegetable kofta on my last visit, which comes in a spicy tomato sauce. Although tasty and wholesome enough, both the balls and sauce were a bit nonedescript. Worth a try, but I feel I will go for a dosa or puri on my next visit.
All in all, after years of eating in OK Indians in Ayrshire, I am glad to now have The Rupeee Room as a solid local option for this type of food. read more